Pages

Saturday, September 19, 2015

I am pro-family and pro-choice, and I stand with
Planned Parenthood. It’s reprehensible for the men of the Republican party to attempt to cut
health care funding for women. Many times throughout my life, when I was unable to obtain
health insurance, I have relied on Planned Parenthood for my medical
care.

I'll never forget the day Planned Parenthood gave me the
happy news that I was preggers with this beauty.

When
I was young and newly married, my ex-husband and I had our own
business. (Isn’t that the American dream, Republicans?) And
while we were building our dream, struggling financially and without
healthcare, I turned to Planned Parenthood for care. Planned Parenthood
was where I went for my first pregnancy test, and where I got the happy
news that I was carrying my daughter Cristen.

Planned parenthood is where I had my annual exams, where I got my birth control, and where I went when I had medical problems.

In
my late thirties, I would once again find myself without health
insurance, due to a pre-existing condition. (My
pre-existing condition? I had seen a therapist for depression and
anxiety after my house burned down.) Every insurance company
denied me, even after I appealed annually and wrote numerous letters.

I turned to Planned Parenthood for my annual checkups and breast exams during those six
long years that no one would insure me.

And
now, in a shrewd political move leading up to the Presidential campaigns, the House Republicans voted to cut funding to Planned Parenthood, claiming that tax-payers are funding abortions. Abortions are only 3% of the care that Planned
Parenthood provides, and taxpayer funds do not pay for them. But yes, Planned Parenthood does provide
abortions- and unless you are a woman who has been in the excruciating
situation of having to choose, you have no right to judge. (A very close friend of mine was raped at gun point and got pregnant with the rapist's child. Should she have been forced to be further violated by carrying the rapist's baby? Or should she have gone to court to prove the rape, so she could have had permission to have an abortion?)

Republicans: How is cutting
life-saving screenings for women all over this country "pro-life"?

If you are going to call yourself Pro-life, you ought to walk your talk.